VIOLENT CRIME RATE REMAINED UNCHANGED WHILE THEFT RATE DECLINED IN 2008
"The violent crime rate in 2008—19.3 victimizations per 1,000 persons age 12 or older—was unchanged from the previous year, the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, announced today. The property crime rate declined during 2008 from 147 to 135 crimes per 1,000 households, primarily as a result of decreases in theft and motor vehicle theft.

In 2008, an estimated 4.9 million violent crimes (rapes or sexual assaults, robberies, aggravated assaults and simple assaults) occurred, as well as an estimated 16.3 million property crimes (burglaries, motor vehicle thefts and household thefts) and 137,000 personal thefts (picked pockets and snatched purses). These offenses included both crimes reported and unreported to police. With the exception of theft and motor vehicle theft, victimization rates for every type of crime measured were unchanged from the 2007 levels..."